Aftershock
by firebunee
Summary: Doug, Tom, Judy, and Fuller are waiting outside of a run down school in a very poor neighborhood. Joey is in making the final bust when an earthquake makes the bust more complicated. Now it is a race to save Joey before an aftershock finishes him off.
1. Chapter 1

**Yes, I have some open stories and they are nowhere near finished, but I am publishing this anyways. Sometimes that works to get me going on finishing the others. Just hang in there, they are not going to go unfinished... I pinky sware they won't:-) **

**This is a Joey Penhall story! The rest will be in it more!! There just seems to be a lot of people who love the Joey stories and there aren't enough of them. I did my part for the Booker stories, Hanson stories, and now... it is a Joey story!!! **

**Now, read and review... **

**Chapter 1**

Hanson and Penhall sat inside of a glorified bread truck just outside of the rundown school building. They were ready to make the bust. They watched from the inside of the vehicle across the street from the aging building as they waited for the magic words to come across the radio from Doug's younger brother Joey Penhall. He was going to finish the deal and that would be it. They would charge into the building flanked by multiple men and women and take down Thaddeus "Flea" Higgins. He had evaded capture more than once. He had also been caught but no charges would stick more than once. He had been the one to blow Tom, Doug and Judy's cover at the school. He had been caught with nothing on him and no witnesses every time making him public enemy number one for the Jump Street program. Joey was their last shot without sending in Booker and Ioki who were on another case and being held back just in case.

"No… I won't give you anything until I see the goods." Joey's voice crackled across the recorder. It was all being recorded to catch the young outlaw this time.

Doug smiled to himself as he listened to his brother getting ready to take the Flea down. He was doing it so by the book that it was bound happen for them this time.

"He's doing well." Judy whispered to Tom as Fuller put his fingers to his lips to silence those watching.

"Really, five G's. That's a lot for just a little bit of powder." Joey's voice crackled back as he haggled with Flea over the price of the drugs.

"You're right Joe-Joe, but this is the best. The smoothest blow you've ever had. It's the real deal straight from south of the boarder." Flea continued to drive in his sale.

"Really…" Joey continued. "Who's your source?"

"Shit!" Fuller shook his head as looked over at Doug. "He's just supposed to make the purchase; I really don't need to have another cop with blown cover in this school."

Doug licked his lips as Tom looked back at Fuller. "Maybe he won't have his cover blown. Maybe he'll do better than the rest of us did." Hanson shrugged his shoulders and raised his eyebrows.

"Why? You trying to cut in on my action, Joe-Joe?" Flea accused.

"Nah, bro, just thought we could pull our resources and maybe make a buck or two together." Joey continued to talk never missing a beat. "I need a new set of wheels."

There was a long silence before another word was spoken by either of the two men.

"I like you Joe-Joe. You're a real slick brother. I'll think about your offer. In the mean time do you still want the powder or not?" Flea asked.

--

Joey licked his lips as he watched Flea produce the plastic bag of white dust like solid. It was drab white and ground to almost resemble powdered sugar. It was a rather small bag but it was something that could easily be cut and then broken down into several other bags for sale to students or local users. It was almost menacing to look at and consider what this small bag could do to a community or a single person.

"Go ahead, take a hit. It's real pure grade shit." Flea raised his eyebrow as he pushed a hollowed out pen body at Joey.

Joey took the white "Bic" pen sheath and looked at it. It was such a simple everyday item. It had probably been an ink pen for someone's studying yesterday and today it was in this boy's pocket ready to be used as a means for drugs. He was using it to shove crap up his and who knows who else's noses. Joey was a bit concerned with inhaling the stuff, but there were times when you had to just to make a sale or find a contact. Joey had not had to do this yet. He reached down and took the empty pen body to his nose and pretended to inhale a line. The desk in the old fire escape next to what would have been the nurse's office was covered in the white solid indicating it had been used for this before. Since it was in the second floor fire escape near a closed off portion of the building no one had ever caught him.

"Good stuff." Joey said clearing his sinuses. His nasal passages burned as he sneezed and shook his head. "Real pure." He remarked using this as an excuse to explain his un-comfort with the white powder.

"It is, isn't it?" Flea grinned nodding his head.

Joey stood straight up. He was supposed to say a phrase once he had made the purchase. He looked over at Flea who was looking at a cellular phone message. He was a tall kid who was very skinny. He appeared very high strung for a senior in high school. He reminded Joey of a cricket stuck inside a bucket. He jumped at the slightest sound. His dark hair was long and well groomed. He wore very neatly pressed blue jeans and a leather jacket over his white dress shirt. Flea had not fit the ticket of a pusher. He hid himself well, but his extravagant gifts for a certain girl, Gloria Hamilton, had given him away. Her parents had alerted a police when Flea had given her a glitzy diamond and gold ring and ear rings. They had thought perhaps he had stolen the items. It was only when they hadn't shown up on any records for missing and stolen jewelry Flea had been linked to drugs. Flea was likable, but was a seller, pusher and user who had evaded the police for too long. He was going to have to go down this time.

"Five thousand it is. Looking forward to this…" Joey raised his right eyebrow as he started to pull a wad of bills from his pocket. The signal was sent, and the cat was out of the bag. The school would soon be over run with cops and Flea would be going to jail for a long time.

--

Fuller ripped the headset off as he looked at the rest of the men and women just waiting for his signal.

"That's it! He's made the buy. Move it out!"

Fuller, Penhall, Hoffs, Hanson, jumped out of the van. They were accompanied by several other men and women in uniform. Only something stopped them. Hanson looked up at Penhall, something wasn't right. There was a rumbling sound. The earth was shaking violently, jumping and shifting from side to side. The sound was almost deafening as car alarms started to chirp loudly, pieces of buildings started to fall to the ground. The officers were cut off as a pipe burst as a crack ripped apart the street they were standing on. Water shot into the air spraying down on top of the officers.

"Earthquake…" someone shouted as Hanson and Hoffs hit the pavement while Penhall and Fuller fell to the ground beside them.

"JOEY!" Doug screamed as a section of the school started to topple and students poured out into the streets.

--

Joey Penhall heard and felt the building start to shift violently. He had a bag of blow in one hand and was beginning to pocket it and preparing to pull his badge and weapon just as all hell broke loose. Paint chips raining violently from the ceiling drew Joey's eyes up. There were exposed, rotten and what looked like very heavy timbers above them.

"What the…" Flea shouted above the rumbling.

Joey looked up and down at the space they were in. The starewell was designed to withstand a fire about a hundred years ago. It had been blocked off when the school started getting complaints about asbestos poising and how it could affect the students. It wasn't designed to withstand an earthquake tearing though it today. Joey heard a crack and he looked up to see huge amounts of plaster falling away from the walls. He could see a timber break through the ceiling and he shoved Flea away from where it would have potentially landed on him. It took all his all his strength to shove the boy away. That was enough to save the kid but the massive oak beam still fell. It fell with the assistance of the laws of gravity landing directly on the cop. Joey collapsed to the floor with the enormous beam pushing back down on top of him. He could feel it across the front of his chest as the plaster and asbestos continued to rain down. He threw his right arm protectively across his face as plaster continued to drop down over him cutting and gouging at the delicate skin of his face.

"Joe-Joe…" Flea sat up and saw the man trapped under the rotting oak beam. He then slid across the floor shoving his own body over top of Joey's uncovered face in an effort to help the downed man.

Joey pushed and pushed at the beam. His chest was constricted from the weight of the object. It hurt to breath and it hurt even more to move. He could feel his left shoulder throbbing beneath the weight and continuous shifting of the earth. He was screaming. He could feel Flea shielding him from a possible second hit. His stomach was arched over his face the smell of aftershave lotion on overpowering his sinuses. He gritted his teeth as the world started to fade into silent fog. He was going to die here, Doug outside watching.

It was abruptly that the world went still. Deafeningly still…


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm in a zone and I hope to read a few reviews for this... **

**Please read and review!!!**

**Chapter 2**

It was chaos as Doug ran towards the front of the school with Hanson hot on his heals.

"Get out of my way!" Doug shouted as he tried to shove past the scores of kids pushing and shoving to get out of the building.

"Doug!" Hanson shouted as he reached out to grasp the officer by the arm only to have Penhall pull his arm away and continue to push kids out of his way.

"Move… please…" Doug was panic stricken as he continued to push and shove only to trip and fall over a young girl who had collapsed on the sidewalk. People were stepping around her and over her as they fled the building in fear.

"Doug!" Hanson shouted helping the officer up. The two men then slid over to the girl. Her face was covered in a white dust, a large gash in her forehead indicated that she had been hit in the head by something. She was trying to cover her face when Doug had nearly stepped on her and tripped himself up getting past her.

"You okay?" Hanson asked the girl whose eyes were starting to glaze over. She was beginning to convulse as she grasped her throat with her hands.

"GOD, Fuller… we need an ambulance now!" Doug shouted.

Doug licked his lips as he looked up at the sea of faces spilling out of the building. He was shocked and terrified. They were hurt and not hurt, bleeding, and not bleeding. Some were leaning on others while others wondered slowly, lost out of the doors wrapping their arms around themselves in shock.

Fuller and Hoffs were there quickly.

"We have to get control of this crowd before this happens again." Hoffs stated loudly.

Fuller nodded his head as he watched the blank expressions of the students and teachers. He could here the voices of people coming out of their houses behind them.

"Cap'n…"

Fuller shook his head. "You can't go in there, Doug. It's not safe."

"It was an earthquake, Sir. They are saying a 5.0." One of the drug officers stated as they leaned over to help with the now unconscious girl.

"She's breathing… I think she just passed out from shock." Burke stated calmly checking the unconscious girls pulse.

"Andrews, McCulla, Hughes, you three find someone in charge and let's get a roll call and see how many students are missing. Hoffs, get a call into Jump Street, make sure everyone there is in one piece and out of the building. That includes Sal! While you're at it track down Booker and Ioki and make sure their alright. They were at South Central today. Thomas, Burke, Mallow, triage as best you can until we can get medial units here. We have to get this under control. Penhall, and Hanson, with me, we're gonna track down Joey and Flea."

--

Joey coughed loudly. A flash of white light and dreadful pain ignited in his left shoulder. He bit his lip tasting blood in his mouth.

"Oh… shit. Flea…" Joey called out.

Joey ran his free right hand over his face. He could feel every cut and bruise that the falling plaster had left on his face. He coughed again. It burned badly each time he tried to suck a breath in or push one out. His hand fell onto the hefty wooden beam where it lay heavily atop his chest. He pushed at the currently immoveable object. He grunted loudly as he tried to thrust it off of himself. All he did was create more traumas for himself as thousands of tiny white lights started to explode in his head and he started to black out again. He closed his eyes and submitted to the darkness once again.

"Joe-Joe… Joe… come one… are you with me?"

A hand was slapping the officer on the right cheek. It hurt as he was hitting a bruise that hadn't surfaced on his the top of his skin yet and the smallest movement only aggravated his body beneath the crushing weight of the object across his chest.

"Stop…" Joey stated in a soft gravely voice.

"Joe-Joe… you're alive." Flea stated loudly.

"Yeah, but you won't be if you hit my face one more time." Joey threatened.

"Hey, Joey, I got you something to drink. I think you might need a drink or something." Flea stated. His voice was filled with this concern Joey hadn't thought he would hear from a boy of his caliber. Flea was a druggie. He was a pusher. He sold drugs to kids, a real slime ball. Why was he helping him?

"What is it?" Joey asked softly trying to lift his head and look at what was in Flea's hand. He needed a drink, something to push the irritating dust from his throat.

"Coke." Flea held the bottle up with a grin

Joey would have laughed if he wasn't sandwiched between what felt like a five thousand pound oak beam and a solid concrete floor.

_How ironic that he was busting the kid for selling "coke" and the kid was offering him a sip of "Coke". _

"Alright..." Joey accepted the offer for the fluid. Water would have been better, but he wasn't about to become choosey.

Flea reached his hand under Joey's neck and lifted his head up. The slight movement elicited a gut wrenching groan from Joey. He screwed his face up and clamped his teeth tightly closed. He soon opened his mouth but it wasn't for a drink as he felt something jabbing him in the ribs on his left side.

"Oh GOD…"

Flea swiftly lowered Joey's head back onto the floor. The officer was near tears as the pain was now a burning and throbbing ache to him.

"You okay?" Flea stated

"Oh… shit!" Joey whimpered

"What happened?" Flea asked shaking. He looked nervously down at Joey. "I didn't lean on the wood did I?"

"No…" Joey huffed breathlessly. "…think I-just busted-a rib."

Flea glanced down at where the timber lay smashing this other kid into the ground. He licked his lips nervously looking back at his face. A grim look crossed Flea's face as he had never been so close to something like this. He had seen dead people and dying people before. He just never let himself think about the pain they were in, or how scared they actually were. It bothered him to know there wasn't more he could do since they were trapped in the small space.

"Here drink something." Flea put the bottle against Joey's cheek and gently poured a small amount of it into his mouth.

The brown carbonated liquid slipped over his lips and bubbled all the way down the back of his throat. Joey marveled at how good it felt to him. The only problem how difficult it was to swallow under the pressure on his chest. Joey clamped his eyes closed as the pain in his chest, shoulder, and abdomen became more as he finally did get the liquid down.

"Does it hurt?" Flea asked.

Joey blinked his eyes; they were full of dust and dirt from all of the contaminants in the air. He thought for sure that Flea had just asked him if the massive weight on his chest hurt, but maybe he was wrong. _How much of this shit has this kid ingested?_

"Yeah." Joey offered a short answer. Sarcasm was just too difficult at the moment.

Flea curled up against the timber. He screwed the cap back on the top of the bottle before setting it on the ground by Joey. The daylight was cutting into the fire escape reflecting off of the minute surface of he dust and dirt. The single dust and dirt particles almost danced in the air around them. Joey turned his head slightly to look at the frightened kid trapped with him. His dark hair was covered in a white film. He looked like he was perhaps forty years older than he truly was. His face was an ashen color from the same debris that covered them both. Joey noted the creases at the corners of his eyes and the area around his mouth where the film was worn off from his expressive eyes and jaws. His lips were bright red where he had taken a drink from the bottle. There was a trail of blood leaking from his left temple and his right forearm.

"You… okay?" Joey asked quietly.

"Yeah." Flea answered.

It was the calmest Joey could remember Flea being. He was normally moving around like a hopped up fool.

"You hurt anywhere." Joey prodded again.

"No." Flea responded looking at the bottle of Coca Cola next to Joey.

"You high?" Joey asked.

"Nah, man, I… I lost your bag. It's under a pile over there." He sighed.

Joey again felt the urge to laugh but the muscles associated with laughing would only lead to more pain in his chest, shoulder and torso. He found it comical that the evidence they had worked so long and hard for was now at the bottom of a rubble pile. Besides he had tried to pocket the stuff when the ceiling had started to come down.

Joey gritted his teeth together as something else felt as if it were gonna snap in his body. He groaned loudly. It was so hard to take a deep breath in. He ran his free hand shakily along the surface of the wood. He reached as far underneath it as he could and grunted as he tried to push it up again.

"Stop… Joe-Joe… stop…" the words got distant.

Joey's eyes started to fog over again. He could see the filthy faced young man hovering overtop of him. He could see his lips moving but his ears were ringing too loudly to make out what he was saying. Joey just wanted so badly to get the large mass of lumber off of his chest so that he could take in a real breath and not feel the sense of panic rising steadily in him.

"…please Joey…" Flea was running the sweating coke bottle across his face.

"Feels-like the whole place-is closing in-on me." Joey stuttered pushing Flea and his bottle away. "I can't-hardly breathe."

"Hey… just calm down…" Flea dropped the bottle and grasped Joey's hand. He held it tightly in his own. He looked up at the ceiling and then at where the fire escape had collapsed in on itself. He looked at what was left of the door he had always used to get into the area. There was nothing but broken timbers and stone where the ceiling caved in on them. He swallowed back his own tears as he thought about his foolishness, how he had spent the first and what could be the last seventeen years of his life. He felt the tears pricking at his eyes while thinking to himself; _I wonder if this is how I'm gonna die?_


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks for reading, reviews would be nice:-) I will keep posting and hope that someone actually tells me that they like it or they hate it...**

**Have a day!!**

**Chapter 3**

"I need to get into that building, Sir. No. Sir… I have an officer inside. Ugggg!" Adam Fuller snapped his phone closed and stormed back over to where Hanson and Penhall were waiting in the sweltering afternoon sun.

Doug watched the face of his superior officer as he walked over to the two men. He looked bitterly angry as he watched the ground under his feet. He had beads of sweat slipping down the side of his cheek as he finally stopped in front of the two men. He ran his long fingers over the beard on his chin before he looked up at Penhall.

"We're not to enter the building until it has been cleared by the building inspector." Fuller exhaled trying to force some other emotions onto his face.

"What do mean Cap'n, Joey's in…"

"I know that Doug. Trust me, this is eating at me too, but our orders are to stay put until the inspectors show up and clear the building for entrance." Fuller interjected.

Hanson looked at the ground under his feet. He sighed loudly as he listened to the string of curses coming from his partner's mouth. He wet his lips as he slowly looked back up. There was defiantly more that they could do, it would just have to be under the radar. Fuller would have to be left in the dark, or at least claim he had no knowledge of the event.

"The inspectors have arrived." Hanson muttered as Ioki walked up behind Fuller, he and Booker both with a look of concern on their faces.

Fuller turned and watched as Booker stood with his thumbs hitched in his blue jeans pockets continued to puff on the cigarette fastened securely between his lips. Ioki surveyed the front of the toppling building. Fuller watched the look of frustration in the young officer's eyes. Both men looked as if they were struggling with this unmentionable inner battle.

"Where did you two come from?" Fuller asked in a voice that sounded almost as if he didn't want to know.

"Busted Sanchez and we were on our way back to the Chapel when all hell broke loose." Booker declared.

"When Judy called we started walking. Most of the town is a mess of broken waterlines. There are a few fires and lots of panic. There's no electricity anywhere." Ioki stated calmly.

"Joey, he still…"

"He's not been found yet, Dennis." Penhal blurted out.

Booker took the cigarette from his lips and extinguished it on the ground. Rubbing his lips with the tip of his thumb, he looked over the building. It was in ruins. It hadn't been in great shape before all of this happened. The school was the poorest in the county. There was nothing to refurbish it with, and nothing to rebuild it with. There was always a joke that it would fall down some summer during break, nobody ever thought it would happen, especially with the children inside.

"When was the last time you remember an earthquake, Coach?" Booker asked raising an eyebrow.

"I don't, Dennis. They always said we were overdue for one, but it never came. Look we have to stay cool until something develops with County." Fuller wiped his forehead with his hand and then slid the sweat soaked appendage down his pants leg.

"How many do we have missing?" Ioki asked uncomfortably.

"Fourteen, Harry, possibly more." Fuller responded looking back at what used to be the front of the school.

Fuller knew all to well that this was the weather that killed people. It was ninety degrees in the shade with about a hundred percent humidity. It was the kind of weather that caused the deaths of elderly people who couldn't afford fans or air conditioning. It was going to be twice as bad for anyone trapped in this building after the earthquake. He could feel the perspiration dripping down his back as he waited for some answer. His stomach dropped as he thought of Joey trapped underneath a pile of rubble somewhere alive and smothering in the climbing temperature.

--

Booker walked to the side pulling Penhall's shirt sleeve indicating he needed to follow. Penhall was then followed closely by Hanson, Ioki and Hoffs.

"We have to get in there. Harry and I have seen the rest of town and County won't be out here for a while. It's a freaken mess." Booker affirmed quietly.

"You're not telling me anything I don't already know Booker. Have you got an idea of how to slip in without Captain Fuller stopping us?" Doug recoiled.

"Just tell him." Judy responded. "He'll tell us we can't and that will be it. At that point he has done his job and he's in the clear."

Hanson folded his arms across his front. He looked up at the top of what was left of the building. He could remember Joey talking about the second story fire escape near the old nurse's office. He had said they had roped the area off to students due to the asbestos falling when anyone would used the stairs, or walk on anything.

"We have to figure out where he's at." Hanson stated quietly shading his eyes from the sun.

"Brilliant, Hanson." Booker snapped as he looked over at the officer.

Hanson raised an eyebrow while glaring at the dark haired officer. He then looked at Penhall and Ioki.

"Remember, Joey said something about being near the second story fire escape. He said it was right next to what used to be the nurses office."

"That's great, Tommy, but how do we figure out where that's at now?" Judy asked forcefully.

"Up the stairs and to the left, down the corridor and then zigzag to the right; can't miss it." Hanson concluded.

It was now Ioki's turn to raise an eyebrow.

"Impressive, Hanson, if only you could find my apartment so easily."

Hanson bit his lips as he scratched the back of his head. He remembered how Joey had walked them through the easiest way to where they would be. It hadn't been too difficult to remember.

"There's a whole section of building missing there, Tom." Doug sighed softly.

Hanson's eyes went up and down as he watched the front of the building as if it would move and indicate that there was anyone there. He fidgeted and then looked back over at Penhall.

"We just gotta have faith on this one, Doug. Joey's still alive in there." Tom patted his partner nervously on the shoulder.

"Okay, so whose gonna tell the Captain?" Doug asked.

--

Joey groaned softly. He could feel the sweat bead and roll off of his face. He had lost all feeling in his left arm sometime ago. He was only saddened that he didn't loose that feeling in his shoulder and ribs. He continued to wiggle his toes to be sure they were still there, but they too were starting to become numb. His right hip felt as though it was being ground into a fine powder. He could feel the bruise on and throughout the bone. He was working on a nice bone bruise. He remembered having one of those when he bashed his elbow into a corner of his desk at Jump Street Chapel. It had hurt for months, this one was surely gonna hurt longer. He knew that this day was going to leave a lasting impression on him for sometime.

"It's really hot in here." Flea stated as he paced the remains of the room.

Joey realized the remnants of the area weren't going to be enough space for the kid much longer. There wasn't enough space for him either. He was already on the boarder of a full blown mental breakdown because of the issues he was starting to have with Closter phobia and now Flea was starting to do his cricket jumping out of the bucket impression. More like a nervous chicken in den of foxes and Joey was starting to feel closed in too.

"Gotta… calm down…" Joey struggled to see the boy as he moved back and forth.

"I can't… can't calm down. It's hot-dark… it's too small-in here." Flea stammered.

"Please… just… s-sit down…" Joey clinched his teeth as he felt a vibration below them.

"What the hell…"

Flea reached out for what was left of the wall. He heard Joey scream out loudly as chunks of plaster and dust began to fall again. This time the rumbling only lasted a few seconds before it stopped. He could see the rays of light splitting through the jagged cinderblocks and bricks.

Joey slapped his free hand across his face as he felt the residual sediment fall upon him. He could feel every single vibration in his shoulder, ribs and hip. It was more vicious than anything he could have imagined to date. He felt something big hit the ground as the vibrations finally stopped.

"Thaddous…" Joey strained to call out.

"Flea." The kid responded in a monotone voice.

Joey ran his fingers across his forehead as brushing the dust off of his face. He felt the urge to cough rising up in him. He knew that was going to hurt more than anything. Joey flung his hand blindly out to the side feeling it hit a leg. He grasped at the jeans on the leg and then felt a set of fingers reach out and lift his hand just as he started to cough violently.

"What-fell?" Joey swallowed as he stopped coughing and composed himself. He still had a death grip on the kid's hand. His chest felt like it could cave in at any minute.

"Not sure, Joe-Joe, but it made one hell of a thump." Flea tried to make a joke but the humor just was not there.

Joey closed his eyes and gritted his teeth as he listened to Flea. He could feel the hot salty tears slipping down his cheeks. He was thirsty, sore, and more importantly, he was frightened. He was terrified that the last time he saw his brother was the last time he would. He was fearful of what Doug would say to Clavo about why his Uncle Joey would never be able to take him out for pizza and ball again. He just wanted a chance to tell his family how much they meant to him before he departed his life.


	4. Chapter 4

**Ok so it has been about a hundred and ten years since I uploaded anything... sorry about that, SSCC's Nursing program is getting the better of me! SO, for my friends who have been begging me to do this, here you go! Thanks so much for continuing to harass me! I promis more will frequent updates... so so sorry! Love ya TT Buddy! In the Face of Darkness, darling, this is for you! Thanks and happy reading... sorry so short:-)**

**C****hapter 4**

"We're fine, Doug." The calm woman's voice came across the cellular phone.

"You sure? I mean Clavo, he…"

"Doug, listen to me, we're fine. There's a crack in the wall but everything is fine. The earthquake only did minimal damage to the house so just relax. Clavo's sleeping and we're fine. I'll call you if we have any problems." The babysitter reassured Doug.

The cop closed the phone and handed it back to Fuller. He breathed a heavy sigh as he turned his back to the officers who were waiting anxiously to enter the building. He could feel his emotions tugging at him. He wanted to leave and go get Clavo and hold him tightly. He wanted to reassure himself the young boy was alright. He needed desperately to find his brother to find a sense of comfort that Joey was alive. He took a jagged breath and closed his eyes while rubbing the bridge of his nose. He wasn't about to give up on Joey, not yet.

"No, you're not going in there and that's final." Fuller instructed Hoffs. She looked quickly to her right and watched Hanson and Booker watching her intently.

"Captain, please, this is Joey. He's young, and he's probably hurt. We have to get to him before something else happens."

"Cap…" Hoffs grasped Fuller by the arms as the ground started to shake violently for the second time that day. Her eyes were wide as her mouth hung agape with terror.

"Joey!" Doug shouted as he charged across the lawn and towards the school building; following closely behind him were Hanson, Booker and Ioki.

"Penhall, NO!" Fuller shouted as he watched his officers charge into the school.

The violent aftershock was over in no time but the men were no longer visible as they were now through the door and inside of what was left of the school.

Joey's free right hand clawed at the surface of the beam. It was starting to constrict his breathing. He couldn't take a full breath due to the weight of the object pinning him to the floor. It could have been the fact that the dust and debris were filling his lungs with potentially harmful toxins. He felt the nerves in his body racing like crazy all over him. He could feel himself shaking as he closed his eyes and tried to take in a relaxing breath. It just hurt so badly.

"Joe-Joe…" Flea cleared his throat.

"Y-Yeah." Joey's voice cracked as he answered.

"You think… were gonna die… in here?"

Joey couldn't answer. He wanted to say no, but his instincts reminded him of how great his chances weren't.

"Don't… know." Joey stammered.

"Joe-Joe…" Flea interrupted again.

"Yeah." Joey answered again.

"Are… you scared?" Flea whispered.

Joey thought to himself about the question. Was he scared? Yes, he was one hundred percent scared that he would die under the weight of a large wooden beam.


End file.
